That '70s Show is one of the best (and
funniest)
television sitcoms ever created. The series is a throwback sitcom which
takes
place in Wisconsin in 1976. The show focuses on Eric Forman (Topher
Grace) and
his friends as they grow up during the 70's. It is from executive
producers
Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner (both of whom produced Roseanne and
3rd Rock
from the Sun).

Eric and his friends spend much of their time
hanging out in
the basement. They also go out in Eric's Vista Cruiser and go on road
trips or
spend time hanging out at the disco. It is the 1970's: That '70s
Show
is a
pop-culture bonanza filled with references to the decade and the
culture
prominent at that time. From vinyl records, to fashion, and even the
opening of the original
Star Wars.

Eric Forman's group of friends consists of Steven
Hyde
(Danny Masterson), Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), Michael Kelso
(Ashton
Kutcher), Fez (Wilmer Valderrama),and
Jackie
Burkhart (Mila Kunis). Eric is essentially a nice nerdy guy: the geek
of
the group
with the basement everyone hangs in. Hyde is Eric's best friend, the
rebel of
the group, and the most sarcastic of the bunch. Donna is smart,
laidback, and a
feminist. She is Eric's next-door-neighbor (and Eric's had a crush on
her for
years).

Michael is the dim-witted member of the group
(with the best
looks) and he is always getting into trouble with his girlfriend
Jackie. Jackie
is a spoiled, rich girl at the start of the series but over the course
of the
show she becomes a more developed character and becomes one of the
sweeter
members of the group. Fez is the foreign exchange student. No one can
ever
figure out what country he is from. He is the most rambunctious and
downright
silly member of the group.

Kitty Forman (Debra Jo Rupp) and Reginald "Red"
Forman (Kurtwood Smith) are Eric's parents. Eric's sister is Laurie
(Lisa Robin
Kelly).Bob Pinciotti (Don Stark) and Midge Pinciotti (Tanya Roberts)
are Donna's
parents. The parents are such an integral part of That '70s Show.
Eric's
parents are especially memorable: Red is always discovering new ways to
yell at
Eric while Kitty is a sweet and loving mother. Both characters are
terrific fun
and have great depth as the series developed.

The series was directed by David Trainer (who
directed every
episode of the series, except for the pilot). Trainer managed to help
the
series to be every bit as entertaining and humorous as possible. The
series
direction was creative and fun throughout and Trainer always seemed to
bring
the best out of the ensemble cast.

The actors have terrific chemistry together. Part
of the
reason That '70s Show became such a huge success was the
terrific
casting. The cast worked together wonderfully and each actor created a
distinct
and memorable character. The whole group of actors were terrific at the
comedic
elements while also excelling at the dramatic moments as the series
developed.

The number one reason why That '70s Show
is such a
great sitcom (and is one of the best) is actually a rather simple
reason: it is
easily one of the funniest television series ever made. The series was
extremely well written throughout and the actors were genuinely
amazing. The
cast always found ways to make the series laugh-out-loud hilarious. The
series
grew over the course of its first season and found a great groove which
carried
on for many years.

The series dropped in quality during the last few
seasons of
the show but was still entertaining and worthwhile. While most of the
cast was
still on the show, the series just wasn't the same without Ashton
Kutcher and
Topher Grace around as series regulars. Grace's absence was especially
a issue
given that Eric was essentially the lead character of the show.
Kutcher's absence
was also strongly felt as he was also one of the funniest cast members.
Even
with Kutcher and Grace gone from the series, the show continued on and
has a
bittersweet and generally satisfying conclusion (with essential guest
appearances).

The series was remarkably well produced during its
run. The series
cinematography by Ronald W. Browne (The Three Amigos, 3rd
Rock from
the Sun) was absolutely terrific. The series does creatively
succeed at
having the essence of 70's culture. The series production design by
Garvin Eddy
(Roseanne) was a tremendous accomplishment: the series manages
to be consistently
great with its 1970's style and this was largely because of the work of
the
production designer. The music by Ben Vaughn and Jeff Sudakin was
well-done as
well.

That '70s Show had so many classic episodes
over its
run. It's impressive how many amazing episodes were made during most
seasons of
the series. The show also had a number of highly satisfying
holiday-themed
episodes centered around Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The
series also
had classic spoof episodes (including one episode centered entirely
around the
films of director Alfred Hitchcock). The series also featured many
impressive guest
stars (from Mary Tyler Moore to Don Knotts).

That '70s Show is a great television
series. The
series received many nominations over its eight season run (including
16 Emmy
Award Nominations). It has a classic theme song with "In the Street"
and the memorable "Hello, Wisconsin!" Over the course of its eight
seasons
the series had 200 episodes (most of which were highly entertaining and
absolutely hilarious). While the series wasn't perfect during the final
seasons
of the show, the series had a better run of classic episodes than most
series
ever have. The show remains a hilarious, entertaining, and creative gem
which
fans will continue to appreciate for decades to come.

The Blu-ray:

Video:

That '70s Show: The
Complete Series arrives on
Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment with an 18 disc set. First, the
good
news: theseries looks pretty impressive
on Blu-ray and fans of the series will certainly want to add the
release to
their collections. The series is amazing and the Blu-ray release is a
must-have
for fans.

The 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded
presentation has generally good color
reproduction, clarity, detail, and depth. The series is presented in
the
original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen as was used for production
of the
series (even though the series was originally broadcast in 1.33:1
full-frame
and released on DVD in that aspect ratio). Fans will gain more with
this HD
widescreen presentation than what was available previously on DVD.

The downside to this release is
that the previously released Season 1
and Season 2 Blu-ray sets were spread across more discs (4 discs per
season
instead of the 2 discs per season in this set) and had higher bit-rate
encodings. Fans who previously purchased these Mill Creek releases
might want
to hold on to them even after purchasing this complete series set. For
everyone
else? It's probably OK to just get the complete series set. The PQ is
impressive.

Audio:

The audio on this Blu-ray release
is presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master
Audio. This is a strong lossless audio presentation of the series. The
music
featured on That '70s Show sounds
terrific. Dialogue clarity is excellent. Fans will be pleased with the
release.
Though this isn't surround-sound heavy as a presentation, the clarity
of the
audio is strong and the lossless quality boost is certainly a nice
upgrade.

Extras:

The packaging on this set is
amazing. The outer slipcover features
felt-like material which is reminiscent of the 70's. The style and
design is totally
cool and very fitting for the show. The packaging is also noteworthy
for having
a high-quality cardboard package design with CD-sized Vinyl-like
seasons
packaged within. Each season set features beautiful, colorful artwork
and the
discs are housed similarly to a 2 LP vinyl record. Each season case has
episode
descriptions for what is on each disc. Two discs are given for the
extras and almost
all of the bonus materials from the previously released season sets are
included.

Select audio
commentaries
featuring director David Trainer are spread
throughout the entire set.

That '70s Show Through
the Years: A Retrospective
features 3 minute long interviews with the cast on the characters of
the show: Eric,
Jackie, Kelso, Hyde, Donna, Fez, Kittie and Red, and Bob.

Season One: A Look
Back (5 min.)

Season Two: A Talk
with Director David Trainer (13
min.)

Season Three: A Look
Back (23 min.)

Several featurettes
are included with clips from the individual seasons: Season
Four in 4 Minutes (which actually is 4 and a half minutes), Season Five in 5 Minutes (5 min.), 6 Minutes
of Season 6 (6 min.), That Seventh '70s Season
(13 min.) ,
and Season Eight in 8 Minutes (8
min.)

Trivia Game -
Exclusive to the Complete Series Blu-ray
set is a brand new trivia game with questions about That
'70s Show and 70's pop-culture.

Groovy Green Screen
(3 min.)

Foto Hut (18 min.)
features stills from the series
with the cast of That '70s Show

Lastly, over an
hour of original broadcast promo spots for That
'70s Show are included.

Final Thoughts:

That '70s Show is
a genuinely great sitcom. It's one of the
funniest television series ever created. With an amazing cast, great
characters, excellent writing, and consistently strong direction, the
series impressed
and amazed. The show has now arrived on Blu-ray in a complete series
set. Fans
will certainly want to add this impressive release to their collection.

The release has all
200 episodes of the series, two discs of extras, collectible packaging,
and
good high-definition PQ and AQ. Mill Creek has put together a solid set
of a
classic sitcom worth revisiting for decades to come.

Highly Recommended.

Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema. He aspires to make movies and has written two screenplays on spec. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.